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TREATISE 



ART OF KNITTING, 



HISTORY OF THE KNITTING LOOM: 



COMPRISING AN 



INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN, 



AND OF ITS RECENT 



WONDERFUL IMPROVEMENTS, 



BY J . B . AIKEN 



FRANKLIN, N. H. : 

PUBLISHED BY THE I N V E X T E 

18G1. 



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TREATISE 



ART OF KNITTING. 



HISTORY OF THE KNITTING LOOM: 



COMPRISING AN 



INTEEESTING ACCOUNT OF ITS OEIGIN, 



AND OF ITS RECENT 



WONDERFUL IMPROVEMENTS, 



BY J. B. AIKEN 



^f^COK. 



Si q^xiaeris raoii-Limentuin, ciroumspice." t-J^ 



FKANKLIN, N. H. : 
PUBLISHED BY THE INVENTOR. | 

>'V 1861. ' i 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by ^ 

J. B. AIKEN, i 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the , 

Southern District of New-York. \ 



CONCORD, N. H. : 
PKINTED BY M'FABLAND & JENKS. 



^/f ^-C^^/.^ 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Origin of the Art of Knitting, 5 

Eapid dissemination over Europe, 5 

Queen Elizabeth wears a pair of knit stockings, 5 

Invention of The Old Knitting Frame, 6 

William Lee, its inventor, 6 

Not patronized by the English Crown, 7 

Settles in Normandy under invitation of Henry the Fourth, 8 

His struggles, disappointments, and melancholy death, 8 

Portrait in the Stocking "Weavers' Hall, London, 9 

Lee's Frame improved by Strutt, 9 

Invention of the Power Knitting Loom, 10 

Timothy Bailey starts it at Cohoes, N. Y., 11 

Recent improvements in knitting machinery, 11 

Origin of the Circular Knitting Loom, 12 

Introduction into this country, 12 

Aiken's unrivaled Factory Machine, 12 

Superseding all others, 12 

Its flattering reception in Europe, 12 

AIKEN'S FAMILY KNITTING LOOM, 13 

Value of Knit Fabrics made upon Aiken's Loom, 13 

Other looms adapted to the wants of the few, 13 

The Family Machine for the toiling masses, 13 

Six years in maturing the invention, 14 

Made in two diiierent styles, 14 

Foot Power Family Machine, 14 

Hand Power or Portable Machine, 14 

Specially designed for the Family and Plantation, 15 

Improves the condition of woman, 16 

Value of Knit Fabrics annually imported, 17 

Spring or Bearded Needle, 17 

Aiken's Self-Acting Improved Needle, 18 

Family Machine saves four distinct profits, 19 



That of the Manufacturer, the Commission Merchant, the Jobber, and 

the Ketailer, 18 

Marvelous capabilities of the Machine, 19 

Knits SEVENTT-TWO THOUSAND LOOPS A MINUTE, 20 

Unlimited variety of its productions, 20 

Tools and implements with each machine, 21 

Superiority over Sewing Machine, 22 

Medals and Premiums, 22 

Testimonials of Purchasers and Operators 23-26 

Testimonials of the Press, 27-29 

Weight and size of the Portable Machine, 14, 32 

Weight and size of the Foot Power Machine, 14, 32 

Price of the Portable Machine, 31 

Price of the Foot Power Machine, 30 

Cost of transportation, 32 

Directions to Correspondents, 32 

Directions for remittances, 32 



THE ART OF KNITTING. 



The old Romans and other nations of antiquity had no 
particular covering for the legs. Leggius or hose, as they 
were then usually termed, first came into use during the 
Middle Ages. 

The Art of Knitting was first invented about three hun- 
dred years ago. One account says that it originated in 
Scotland, and was introduced speedily into France, and 
thence sooii disseminated over all Europe. Another ac- 
count is, that it was introduced into England from Spain 
about the year 1559. Its introduction into England, 
however, must have been somewhat later than 1559 ; 
because Hume, the great English historian, informs us 
that Queen Elizabeth, in 1561, the third of her reign, was 
presented by her silk woman with a pair of black silk 
knit stockings, the first pair of knit stockings ever worn 
in England, and was so delighted with them as to never 
wear those made of cloth afterward. 

Prior to this invention, hosiery of all kinds was made of 
milled cloth. The immense value of the new art consisted 
then, as it does now, in the fact that it is the only method 
yet devised by which fabrics of a substantially elastic 
character can be manufactured. So highly was the new 
fabric esteemed, that it immediately went into general 
use. Knitting became fashionable in every circle of so- 
ciety. Not confined to the cottage of the peasantry, it 
was eagerly and ambitiously learned and pi-acticed in 
princely halls and royal palaces. High-born and royal 
ladies even, vied with each other in the accomplishment. 



The utmost ingenuity and labor was expended by these 
ladies in the new employment. 

The Shetland Isles, famous for their splendid wool, 
soon became renowned for the new fabric. The exceeding 
fineness and elegance of their knitting became the wonder 
and admiration of the time. The historian informs us 
that a fair lady of those ndrthern Isles once knit a pair of 
hose, so fine in their texture as to be drawn through her 
finger-ring. They were afterward presented to George 
the Eourth, who took \'ast delight in displaying them at 
his levees. Thus much for the old fashioned method of 
knitting with wires worked by the fingers. 

THE FIRST MACHINE FOR KNITTING 

was invented by William Lee, of Woodborough, England, 
about thirty j^ears after the invention of hand knitting, 
and about two hundred and seventy years ago. 

There is a romance connected with the origin of this 
invention. One version of the matter is, that Lee, falling 
desperately in love while an under-graduate, and marrying 
a pretty girl, was expelled from college ; and that his 
attention was turned to the subject by sitting and intently 
gazing upon his young wife at her dim lamp, who, being 
a skillful knitter, contributed much in their poverty to 
gain them a subsistence. This account is, however, im- 
probable in some particulars. From the inscription upon 
the picture in the Weavers' Hall, which will be found 
upon a subsequent pag-e, it appears that he received his 
degree at the Universit}^, which would not probably have 
been the case had he been expelled. 

The other account runs in this wise : Lee made love to 
a pretty girl in his neighborhood, who received his ardent 
attentions somewhat coolly. She was an accomplished 
knitter, and in his visits she was careful to display less 
devotion to him than to her hosiery. Disgusted at last 



witli this kind of entertainment, he resolved to devote 
himself to the invention of a machine to supersede her 
favorite employment. Accordingly, laying aside his priestly 
rohes, and relinquishing his sacerdotal duties, he addressed 
himself entirely to his new idea. His sweetheart, changing 
her mind, endeavored in vain to dissuade him from his 
new ohject of devotion. 

The old stocking weavers used to take delight in their 
cups, for they were always a jovial set, in dilating upon 
Lee's adventures with his mistress. In his visits he used 
to watch his sweetheart with the utmost attention, to 
devise, if possible, some method of giving the round 
shape which the four needles gave to the stocking. At 
last, calling upon her when she was using only two needles 
in forming the heel, the thought flashed upon him in a 
moment, to make his web flat, and, by seaming with the 
needle by hand, make it round. After working day and 
night for three years, he at last was successful in making 
a course upon a frame ; and, after some years more of 
anxious and embarrassing toil, his struggles were finally 
rewarded in the production of what, among the stocking 
weavers, is known as "the old stocking frame," which, 
for nearly two hundred and fifty years, down even to this 
generation, continued to be the only knitting machine in 
existe-nce, and in nearly the same condition in which it 
was lef^ b}^ the inventor. 

Lee was honored with permission to exhibit his inven- 
tion before Queen Elizabeth, who had been accustomed to 
patronize whatever ministered to her pleasure, her vanity, 
and her ambition. But she was now far in her dotage, 
and gave him no encouragement. He and his brother 
were permitted, also, to weave a pair of stockings upon 
the machine in the presence of her successor. But James 
withheld his patronage, assigning as his reason that the 
invention was calculated to deprive the poor hand knitters 



8 

of their labor and their bread ; a narrow-minded concep- 
tion of a stupid monarch, which, strange as it may seem, 
has in our own day impelled the operatives, upon these 
very old Lee frames, in their turn, to resist the introduction 
of the still greater improvements of modern times. 

Lee, however, nothing disheartened, went straight on- 
ward in his enterprise ; and, in 1597, had, at Culverton, 
near I^Tottingham, nine frames in successful operation, 
each of his weavers wearing, as a badge of honor, a 
breast-pin composed of a silver needle, a chain, and a clasp. 

The fame of his invention and the report of the shabby 
manner in which it had been regarded at the English 
court having reached France, that enlightened monarch, 
Henry the Fourth, in accordance with the suggestions 
of Sully, his great minister, believing, unlike the royal 
James, that labor-saving inventions are essentially the 
means of multiplying the resources of national industry, 
and thus enlarging the means of living to the poor, 
solicited Lee to make his kingdom the theatre of his 
enterprise. He had, however, hardly become located with 
his machines in his new home, at Rouen, in Normandy, 
under the auspices of Henry, when his royal patron fell 
by the assassin hand of Ravaillac, a bigoted monk, whose 
fanaticism had been inflamed by the king's enlightened 
religious liberality. This was in 1610, precisely two and 
a half centuries ago. Lee, soon proscribed for his religion, 
took refuge in Paris, and there, in a short time, died in 
abject poverty. This great invention, however, did not die 
with him ; for some of his workmen escaping back into 
England, and under his ingenious aj)prentice, Aston, 
again mounting the stocking frame, they restored the 
invention to its native country, and thus made J^otting- 
hamshire what it is at the present day — the great seat of 
the knitting business in the English realm. 

Li the Stocking Weavers' Hall, in Red Cross Street, 



London, there is the portrait of a man painted in the act 
of pointing to an iron stocking frame, and addressing 
a woman who is knitting with needles by hand. The 
picture bears the following quaint inscription : " In the 
year 1589 the ingenious William Lee, A. M., of St. John's 
College, Cambridge, devised this profitable art for stock- 
ings — but being despised went to France — yet of iron 
to himself, but to us and to others of gold ; in memory of 
whom this is here painted." 

As already intimated, this old frame continued for cen- 
turies without one notable improvement and without 
rival — at once a monument of inventive genius and a 
benefaction to the human race. The amazing stride from 
the old knitting needles to this knitting frame is unques- 
tionably one of the most extraordinary single feats ever 
effected in mechanical invention. 

In 1756, about one hundred and fifty years after Lee's 
death, a valuable improvement was made upon this old 
frame, by Jedediah Strutt, a man of genius and public 
spirit, of Derby, England, who was the patron of liichard 
Arkwright, in his inventive labors, and one of his partners 
at a later day in his manufacturing enterprises. This 
improvement, however, was no innovation upon the gen- 
eral features of the original machine. 

It is to be remembered that this old frame was a hand 
machine, so heavy and complicated in its structure as to 
demand the strong muscular energies of one long trained 
to the work, to give it successful operation. Hence the 
great efforts and vast sums of money expended in England 
and on the Continent to adapt it to power, in the latter 
part of the eighteenth and the early part of the present 
century. All experiments in that direction having, how- 
ever, proved entirely abortive, it had come to be the 
impression, almost universally, among inventors, that it 



10 

was an impossibility. What was thus abandoned as im- 
possible by European ingenuity, was soon after completely 
accomplished by the inventive genius of America. 

FIRST POWER KNITTIiTG LOOM. 

The first knitting machine ever operated by power in this 
or in any other country is believed to have been devised 
and constructed by Timothy Bailey, in the city of Albany. 
Egbert Egberts, Dr. Williams and Alfred Cook were 
engaged with Bailey in the enterprise. Egberts first sug- 
gested the idea of a power machine to Williams, and the 
services of Bailey, who was represented by Cook to be a 
man of great inventive powers, were solicited. They took 
Bailey to see one of the Lee frames, then in operation in 
that city. Bailey, after careful examination and one day's 
reflection, decided that he could do. the job. Egberts 
immediately thereupon sent Bailey to Philadelphia with 
funds, to purchase an old frame upon which to commence 
his experiments. This was in 1831. Egberts, Williams, 
Cook and Bailey entered into partnership ; and, employ- 
ing a man by the name of Gleason, after succeeding in 
operating the old machine by turning a crank, Bailey 
commenced in good earnest to build a new machine to be 
operated by power. But, after awhile, the partners, in- 
cluding Gleason, who had been received into the com- 
pany, all became discouraged ; and Egberts, who, by 
agreement, had advanced Bailey's share of the capital, 
concluded to pay up the bills, and with the rest call the 
thing a bad speculation. Bailey, however, still had faith, 
and the machine was turned over to him, who said he 
was not in the habit of leaving a job till it was finished. 
He went on alone, and, in a week or two afterward. Cook 
and Egberts, calling on their old partner to see his opera- 
tions, were amazed in seeing Bailey turn his new machine 



11 

thirty-two revolutions without missing a stitch. Egberts 
immediately ofiered Bailey five hundred dollars to put the 
machine in running order. The proposition was imme- 
diately accepted, and, with the assistance of his brother 
Joshua, in finishing it up, the machine was put in opera- 
tion by 

POWER 

in the attic of a large building then just erected at Cohoes, 
in October, 1832. It was substantially the old Lee frame, 
adapted to power. 

Timothy Bailey, the inventor of this improvement, now 
resides at Ballston Spa, New- York. Egbert Egberts and 
Joshua Bailey reside at Cohoes, where they have accumu- 
lated large fortunes in the hosiery business, which was 
commenced under such humble auspices. 

The knitting business is believed to have been first 
introduced into this country by the Germans, at Philadel- 
phia and Germantown, Pa., and by English emigrants 
from Nottinghamshire, who settled in New- York city, and 
in several other old manufacturing localities in the Middle 
and Eastern States. It has, however, never to any extent 
passed either ivest or south beyond the limits of New- York and 
Pennsylvania. 

The improvements in knitting machines in the last 
thirty years, as in other departments of mechanical inven- 
tion, have been marvelous. Bailey's old machine is now 
valuable only to the antiquarian. Lee's machine, after 
which Bailey modeled, was at best a clumsy, compli- 
cated, and expensive aftair, and, in converting it into a 
power frame, it was not improved in this regard. 

The old Lee invention, it is well understood, was a 
square frame, making a flat web, which was seamed to- 
gether in forming the stocking. 

The circular loom which forms the leg of the stocking 



12 

without a seam is au invention of modern date. The 
origin of this loom is a matter of some obscurity. It is 
said by some to have originated in France. Others con- 
jecture that it was first invented by the Germans, who, it 
is well known, have been distinguished for their skill in 
the manufacture of hosiery from the period in which Lee 
established the business in Kormandy, 

There is a circular loom in limited use in this country, 
which is known among stocking weavers as the French 
Loom ; but it is a complicated machine, and not adapted 
to the general hosiery business. It is believed, however, 
that the first circular loom introduced into America was 
brought from Belgium into Connecticut by a German, 
about a quarter of a century ago. There have been since 
then several circular looms devised in this country, but 
the one which is superseding all others, both in this coun- 
try and Europe, is the Loom invented by J. B. Aiken, to 
which special allusion will hereafter be made. 

There have been a variety of machines invented in the 
past twenty years of varied degrees of merit. There is 
one feature, however, which is common to them all ; they 
have, without exception, all been designed for manufactur- 
ing establishments. The cost of the machine, and the ex- 
pense, skill, and experience requisite to operate them, 
have in every case entirely precluded the idea of intro- 
ducing them into private use. 

THE FACTORY KKITTDTG MACHINE, 

invented by J. B. Aiken, and which is universally re- 
garded as superior to all others, is no exception to this 
fact. The admirable qualities of this machine have been 
thoroughly tested by more than six years of actual use in 
large and leading knitting establishments in various sec- 
tions of this country, and it is at this time in process of 



13 



introduction with great approbation, into the various 
countries of Europe. 

So extensively has it already been introduced into use, 
that there is now manufactured upon it more than 

$2,000,000 
worth of hosiery and knit fabrics annually in this country 
alone.^ It stands every where confessedly without a rival 
m knitting machinery, and is fast superseding all others 
m use. But, as already stated, it is a Factory Machine 
entirely unsuitable for famUy use. 

The inevitable result of the matter has thus been to 
concentrate the knitting business in the hands of capital- 
ists and corporations, and to accumulate 

IMMENSE FORTUNES 

in the hands of the few. In fact, the precise consequences, 
to a serious extent, have been realized as they were pre- 
dicted by Queen Elizabeth and her successor in refusing 
Lee any patronage. The true, legitimate results of all 
labor-saving inventions which are to alleviate the condi- 
tion of the masses of the people, have not been derived 
from the various knitting machines hitherto invented. 

It was a consideration of these facts which first suo-- 
gested the idea which has been developed in "^ 

AIKEN'S FAMILY E2^ITTING MACHINE. 

The first step in the knitting invention which placed 
the knitting business in the possession of every family 
however humble, was essentially a blessing to the toiling 
millions. But in the next step, when the knitting needles 
yielded to the heavy, complicated and costly machinery 
It was the capitalists who gathered the harvest. It has 
been the leading and controlling idea of the inventor of 
Aiken's Family Machine, to turn back this business into the 



14 

HOMES OF THE PEOPLE, 

and thus to vindicate the large and enlightened sagacity 
of Henry the Fourth and his great minister, in their 
patronage of Lee, on the ground that every labor-savhig 
inventioli, in its full development, is essentially a blessing 
to the laboring poor. 

This machine is the result of long and careful reflection 
and experiment. For more than six years the inventor 
has spared no toil, time nor expense, in simplifying and 
perfecting its parts, and adapting it to the purpose for 
which it is designed. By a slow, laborious and expensive 
process of experiment, one difiiculty after another has 
been met and overcome, and the inventor has noW the 
large, and in some degree proud satisfaction to present to 
the^'pubhc a Knitttng Machine so simple in construction, 
so easy of management, and so limited in cost as to merit 
a place by the fireside of every considerable family in the 
land. In its construction no less than five distinct patents 
have been secured upon its parts, beside those secured in 
foreign countries. 

The Family Machine embraces essentially the same 
principles of action as those of the Factory Machine. It 
is in fact Aiken's Power Loom reduced to a vastly simpli- 
fied form. 

The Family Machine is constructed in two styles. One 
style is operated by the foot, and the other is operated by 
the hand. In every other respect the machines are pre- 
cisely alike, in durability and in facility of management as 
well as in structure. A correct representation of each 
style will be found in the pages of this pamphlet. 

The peculiar excellences of the hand power machine 
consist in its remarkable lightness and its compactness of 
form. Its weight and the space it occupies are about one 
fourth as much as are required for the foot power machine- 



15 

With all its appurtenances it may readily be packed into 
a common trunk with the wearing apparel, or into a box 
less than a foot square. It is emphatically 

A PORTABLE FAMILY KNITTING MACHINE. 

It may be borne from place to place with but little more 
trouble than a lady carries an extra bonnet, or a gentle- 
man an extra hat, and with less liability of injury. 

The Family Machine, as its name indicates, is peculiarly 
adapted to the uses and the wants of the 

FAMILY, 

in which its value is inestimable. In fact it is a fortune 
in itself. Any child almost can operate the machine, and 
one person can perform not only all the knitting of a large 
family, but of a whole neighborhood or ordinary country 
village. It is, also, a truly wonderful invention for the 

PLANTATION. 

With one of these machines the hands that are incapable 
of going to the field, or of performing other work, can 
easily knit all the stockings needed on any plantation. 
The machine is adapted to the manufacturing of the 
coarsest and heaviest, as well as of the finest and most 
delicate fabric. The clumsiest hand can operate it, and 
without danger of getting it out of order. 

This machine, moreover, ofiers peculiar inducements to 
the formation of 

CLUBS. 

Inasmuch as one machine wdll do the entire knitting of 
a large neighborhood, or even of an ordinary village, it is 
manifest that, so far as the cost is concerned, no commu- 
nity need be without one of them. By the association of 
a few neighborhood friends in the purchase, the cost to 
each is reduced to a mere trifle, and the machine is so like 
a case knife in simplicity, and so extremely little liable to 



16 

get out of order, that it is singularly adapted to such 
associated use. 

The Family Machine also offers great inducements to 
the investments of 

CAPITALISTS. 

No machine or instrument was ever invented better 
adapted to being profitably rented than the Family Knit- 
ting Machine. It does the work which is largely and 
positively demanded in every family. It requires no par- 
ticular skill in its successful use, and is not at all liable to 
get out of order. Individuals, with the small means 
requisite to purchase these machines, can not fail of large 
remuneration by investing in them, and leasing to those 
who are not able to purchase. A smart girl, with one of 
these machines, can easily make 

TWELVE DOLLARS A WEEK, 

beside paying a large rent for the machine. In thus 
giving employment to the enterprising poor, the man of 
means would not only be doing himself a benefit, but 
would be eminently a public benefactor. And here it 
may with propriety be remarked, that this Family Ma- 
chine is designed primarily and essentially to improve the 
condition of 

WOMAN. 

It not only, in an astonishing manner, lessens the labors 
of woman in the family, but it also furnishes a species of 
remunerative employment, peculiarly adapted to that sex 
whose diversity of employment has hitherto been too 
much circumscribed. 

AIKEN'S FAMILY KNITTING MACHINE 

belongs emphatically to woman ; and when its value and 
excellencies are generally understood through the country, 
it is destined to produce a revolution in the knitting business. 



17 

As has been already suggested, the manufacturing of 
hosiery in this country has been hitherto monopolized by 
a few establishments in the ]^ew-England States, New- 
York, and Pennsylvania, in which rich harvests have been 
gathered. The Family Machine is designed to scatter the 
business thus monopolized into 

A Hm^DRED THOUSAND HOMES. 

And this is not' all. According to the statements of 
the Treasury Department, at Washington, in round num- 
bers, more than 

$5,000,000 

are every year sent into foreign countries to pay for the 
knit goods which are yearly imported into this country. 
It is the mission of this Family Machine to stop this 
enormous importation, and to make all these fabrics, here- 
tofore imported, on American soil and in American homes. 

These statements may be regarded like exaggerations 
to those who are not familiar with this branch of business, 
and who are not apprised of the astonishing improvements 
in knitting machinery which have recently been developed. 
To those who know the character of the business, how- 
ever, the matter will seem otherwise. At any rate there 
will be no doubt in the mind of any man who, for one 
moment, has witnessed the easy, rapid, and really elegant 
movement of Aiken's Machine, by the side of the noisy, 
laborious, slow, and rattling operation of "The Old 
Stocking Frame," which is now passing into disuse. 

One of the distinguishing merits of Aiken's Machine 
consists in the great superiority of its needle. 

There are, among the multiplicity of needles in use, but 
two leading varieties. 

The Spring or Bearded Needle, which was first em- 
ployed by Lee in " The Old Stocking Frame" nearly three 
hundred years ago, is the kind most generally used. 
2 



18 

This needle is adapted to a single gage, or, as the term is 
more commonly used, to a single iiimihcr of yarn only. 
With each change in the gage of yarn, an entire change 
in the set of needles is contemplated. It requires an even, 
smooth, soft, and pliable thread. Homespun, uneven, 
rough, coarse, or hard-twisted yarn can be used only with 
the greatest difficulty. The needles are exceedingly liable 
to derangement and injury, and the cost of their wear and 
tear is very great, not to mention the loss in labor and 
great damage in bad work. 

The Latch or Self- Acting Needle is the other variety. 
This needle is the property, by patent, of the inventor of 
the Family Machine, and by him has recently been greatly 
improved. This needle is adapted to almost any descrip- 
tion of thread. It will knit every variety of yarn, from 
ten to thirty gage. It will knit coarse yarn or fine, rough 
or smooth, hard-twisted or slack, homespun or machine- 
spun. It is nothing uncommon for a set to run months, 
and even an entire year, without moving one of them 
from its socket ; evidence of which will be found in the 
testimonials of purchasers and operators, which are ap- 
pended to this pamphlet. 

It is hardly needful to add that the 

SELF-ACTma IMPROVED NEEDLE, 

employed in his Family Machine, is superior to all other 
inventions. 

There is another thing in connection with the Family 
Machine. It can not fail of always being highly remuner- 
ative in its operation, because it saves so many different 
'profits. Look for a single moment at the ordinary method 
of conducting a large knitting establishment. 

In the first place there is a profit which is retained by 
the manufacturer of the hosiery. Then there is the profit, 



19 

and always a generous slice, which is retained by the 
commission house. And, still again, there is the profit of 
the jobber, and finally there is the profit which goes to 
the retailer. Here you have 

FOUR DISTINCT PROFITS, 

aside from the cost of the various transportations which 
are accumulated in the usual method of the hosiery 
business, and all of which is paid by the consumer. The 
individual who, with a Family Machine, goes into the busi- 
ness on a limited scale, retains the most of these profits in 
his own pocket, and the family and plantation which, with 
the Family Machine, knit their own fabrics, 

SAVE IT ALL. 

The advantages of the hand power machine over that 
which is moved by the foot have been already stated. 
There is a single particular in which the foot power ma- 
chine also has the advantage — it is susceptible of the 
greater speed. But then this great law of mechanism 
should be remembered, namely, that, other things being 
equal, the greater the sjjeed, the greater the poicer required. 

The foot power machine, in its ordinary movement, knits 

5,000 LOOPS A MIKUTE ; 

while, under similar circumstances, may be knit 

4,200 LOOPS A MINUTE 

upon the Hand Power Machine. So easy is the move- 
ment of the latter, however, that, when the work is prop- 
erly adjusted, it may be operated by a child four years old. 
These machines are, beside, readily converted into 
power looms. The owner of a Portable Machine can thus 
at pleasure employ either hand, steam or water power. For 
this purpose, at an additional expense of merely three dol- 
lars, an extra gear and stud, a tight and loose pulley are fur- 



20 

nished, which, in a moment, may at any time be adjusted 
to the machine. In this way the loom, when driven by 
power, is susceptible of knitting at the almost incredible 

speed of 

60,000 LOOPS A MmUTE 1 

Its ordinary speed, however, when thus operated, is about 

10,000 LOOPS A MINUTE. 



CAPABILITY OF THE FAMILY MACHINE. 

There is no feature in the Family Machine which is 
more completely astonishing, and which contributes more 
essentially to its eminent practical value than the great 
versatility of its productions. 

The following are a few of the almost unlimited variety 
of fabrics and articles of wearing apparel which, with the 
most surprising facility and perfection, are made upon 
this truly matchless machine : viz.. 

Stockings, of every size and texture, 

Undershirts, Gents' Suspenders, 

Drawers, Nubian Scarfs, 

Gents' Comforts, Undersleeves, in great variety, 

Table Covers, Ladies' Opera Capes, 

Head Dresses, Tidies, 

Cravats, Sontags, 

Capes, Shawls, 

Purses, Rigolets, &c., &c. 

THE PORTABLE MACHINE is constructed with a 
clamp and thumb-screw, by which it is easily attached to 
a common table for operation, as represented in frontis- 
piece, and at page 31 of this pamphlet. 

THE FOOT POWER MACHINE is mounted on an 
elegant black walnut table, which is supported by an iron 



21 

framework similar to that of an ordinarily mounted 
sewing; machine. See illustrations, page 30. In either style 
it constitutes an ornamental article of furniture. 

TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS. 

The following articles accompany each machine: namely, 
Oil Can, Screw-Deiver, 

Wrench, Twenty Extra Needles, 

Skein Holders, of a beautiful and improved pattern, 
Winder, for winding the yarn upon the bobbin from 
which it is unwound in knitting, and 

A BOOK OF INSTRUCTION, 

containing a plain and complete explanation of the entire 
machine, its several parts, how to operate it and keep it in 
order, and how to finish up the fiibrics and articles of its 
manufacture. In a word, there is supplied with each 
machine every tool and implement and all the information 
requisite for a person of ordinary intelligence to start 
successfully, without further assistance, a 

HOME E2^ITTING ESTABLISHMENT. 

The Sewing Machine is justly regarded as a valuable 
invention. The rival efforts of the multiplied inventors 
and manufacturers of these machines in the last few years 
have resulted in a very extensive introduction of them 
into family use, and, while some of the many inventors 
have scattered worthless articles upon the community, it 
is believed that the purchasers of really good machines have 
invariably deemed the purchase monej^ as being well in- 
vested. It demands but the slightest reflection, however, 
to perceive that Aiken's Family Knitting Machine fur- 
nishes opportunity for altogether a more 

PROFITABLE INVESTMENT. 

The Sewing Machine is confined in its employment 



22 

exclusively to the solitary matter of combining portions 
of fabrics and materials which have already been manu- 
factured, while a large portion of the more difficult and 
laborious sewing of a family it is unable to do at all. 

The Family Knitting Machine, on the other hand, is an 
actual producer of fabric. It takes the simple thread as 
it comes from the spindle, and transforms it into the 
many diversified forms of staple fabrics, and articles 
of useful and fixnciful wearing apparel, as has already, 
upon a previous page, been shown in speaking of the 
capabilities of the machine. 



A^^W J^TtlDS. 



"Wherever Aiken's Machine has been exhibited, it has 
in no instance failed of eliciting the most flattering enco- 
miums. In 1859 medals were " awarded to J. B. Aiken 
for Family Knitting Machine," as follows : One by the 
South-Carolina Institute, Charleston, S. C. ; one by the 
American Institute, New- York city, and one by the Me- 
chanics' Institute, Eichmond, Va. Beside the above, 
there were awarded to the machine, in 1860, a silver 
medal, by the Mechanics' Institute, at Richmond ; also, 
the highest premium, by the Louisiana State Fair, held at 
Baton Rouge ; and the 

Citizens' Grand Medal of Honor, 
the highest premium in its gift, by the Mechanics' Fair at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, in addition to premiums in Alabama 
and other States. 



TESTIMONIALS 

OF 

PURGHASEKS AND OPERATORS 



From the many testimonials which we are constantly 
receiving from those who are using our Family Knitting 
Machines, in every section of the country, we make room 
for the few which are subjoined : 

Newborn, Newton County, Ga., Nov. 15, 1860. 
Having tested the working properties of one of your Family Knitting 
Machines for nine months, I take pleasure in saying to you that it is a 
good invention, easily managed, easily kept in order, and worthy of all 
commendation. May it have an extensive circulation, and you meet with 
ample reward for your ingenuity. 

John W. Pitts. 



Cincinnati, Ohio, December 4, 1860, 
I have had one of Aiken's Family Knitting Machines in use for the 
past twelve months. It surpasses my most sanguine expectations. I have 
not failed in any thing I have attempted to knit. I have made hose of all 
sizes, both cotton and woolen : Ladies' opera capes, Nubian scarfs, under- 
sleeves, gents' comforts, undervests and drawers, and many other useful 
articles. It is a labor-saving treasure. One Machine will keep three or 
four ladies employed, in finishing articles never out of use or fashion. 

Miss Susannah Branson. 



Jersey City, N. J., December 10, 1860. 
I have been using one of your Family Knitting Machines for some 
time. It is truly an adrdirable thing, not more remarkable for the ele- 
gance and simplicity of its construction than for the rapidity and perfec- 
tion of its work. It is truly astonishing to see how, even in its most rapid 
revolution, it never fails to take up every loop. 

Sarah V. Manning. 



24 

CouRTLAND, Ala., November 13, 1860. 
So far as the Family Knitting Machine has been tried it comes up fully 
to your representations. It certainly makes the most regular, close, and 
best knitting I have ever seen. The Machine is a marvelous specimen of 
mechanical ingenuity. I am very much pleased with mine. 

E. 2*1. SwooPE. 



KiCHMOND, Inc., November 16, 1860. 
I have had one of your Machines in my family for the last year, and 
am highly pleased vk'ith it. The simplicity of its construction, and the 
ease and facility of its operation, elicit universal admiration. I can per- 
ceive no wear upon it, although it has been in constant use. Not one 
needle has been changed. I purchased it solely for the use of our own 
family ; but, yielding to the urgent solicitations of the many friends who 
have witnessed the elegance, firmness and durability of its work, I have 
done more than my own knitting. At the end of three months after 
receiving the Machine from you, I was astonished to find that, in addition 
to the care of my little ones and my other household duties, I had earned the 
full price of my Machine. It is, emphatically, a labor-saving invention. 

E. N. Griffith. 



Wilton, Me., December 1, 1860. 
I believe my Family Knitting Machine capable of knitting almost any 
thing — sleeves, shirts, hose, table covers, tidies, scarfs — in fact I have not 
tried to knit any thing in whic|i I have not succeeded. The ease and 
pleasure with which the Machine is operated, aside from profits, are much 
more than I anticipated. Miss M. K. Flood. 



Brooklyn, N. Y., December 10, 1860. 
A friend of mine has owned and run one of your Family Knitting 
Machines for some time past, and has realized, from operating it, over 
three dollars per day, and is very busy during the present hard times. 

W. A. Cochran. 



Boston, December 11, 1860. 
I have used one of your Family Knitting Machines a short time, and 
like it very much. It is much easier kept in order than any sewing 
machine with which I am familiar. If a needle does not work, it takes 
but a moment for a person of the smallest skill to insert another in its 
place. The longer I use mine the better it works. 

Mrs. M. W. EussELL, 11 Marion Street. 



25 

Liberty, Mo., November 25, 1860. 
I have been using one of your Family Knitting Machines for several 
months, and am much pleased with it. The work is better than that done 
by hand. A lady can knit and finish, with your Machine, a dozen 
pairs of hose in just about the same time that is required to knit a single 
pair by hand, and with much less fatigue. G. G. Hildreth. 



Cincinnati, November 19, 1860. 
I have had one of your Family Knitting Machines in operation for the 
last ten months. It more than answers my anticipations. I consider the 
money which I paid for the Machine well invested. An ordinary family 
may be handsomely supported from it, with but little labor. 

J. Wallace. 



Nantucket, November 8, 1860. 
It gives me pleasure to be able to add my testimony to the value of your 
Family Knitting Machine. I have used one of your Machines for several 
months, and in that time have done' some very fine work, and made some 
very heavy and choice hose. The Machine has, thus far, failed in no par- 
ticular. Not a needle even has yet been changed. 

James Thompson. 



TuscTjMBiA, Ala., November 13, 1860. 
Simple justice to you compels me to say that your Family Knitting 
Machine is all you claim for it. I have knit hundreds of pairs of socks 
and stockings, from the very heavy yarn for the field hand down to the 
infant's stocking, and have never broken the first needle. It has never 
been out of repair, and never drops stitches. In truth, as a time-saving 
and comfort-giving machine, I regard it as without a rival. 

'' Ann Messenger. 



Louisville, Ky., November 21, 1860. 
The Family Knitting Machine I purchased of you last June works well. 
I have tested its merits to my own entire satisfaction, and a lady friend, 
who is an excellent hand knitter, has done likewise. It is easy to learn 
to operate, and a vast improvement on hand knitting, as it does its 
work with so much speed and regularity. It is a very great acquisition to 
a family, where there is a large quantity of knitting to be done. 

Wm. Malone. 



26 

Battle Creek, Mich., November 12, 1860. 
The Knitting Machine purchased of you works admirably. We have 
knit hose of various sizes — undersleeves, tippets, comforters, &c., &c. — 
with no other instructions than those sent with the Machine, al- 
though I had never seen one of the kind before. Your loop regulator 
enables the operator to change the loop instantly, so as to knit tight or 
loose at pleasure, and is an exceedingly simple and ingenious device. I 
have examined other knitting machines, and regard yours as the best I 
have seen. For simplicity, perfection and rapidity of work, as well as 
ease of operation and management, so far as my information extends, it is 
entirely without a rival. 

Yours respectfully, Samuel Adams. 



Eatox, Ohio, December 15, 1860. 

I have used one of your machines about ten months, and would not 
part with it for many times its cost, if unable to get another. Beside the 
care of a large family, it is no uncommon thing for me to make with it a 
dollar and a dollar and a half a day, and it is no .exaggeration to say that 
with no other cares I could easily make two dollars a day. 

I have knit upon it all kinds of cotton and woolen hosiery, and for 
fancy work it can't be boat. I have knit shawls, nubias, opera capes, son- 
tags, undersleeves, children's sacks, comforts, and other articles too numer- 
ous to mention. 

I can cheerfully recommend any woman desiring pleasant and profitable 
employment to buy one of your machines. If necessary, borrow the 
money, and with industry it can be soon replaced with interest. 

Mrs. D. A. Dick. 



Chicago, December 17, 1860. 
I have been using one of your Family Knitting Machines for some time 
past, and find that I can accomplish four times the amount of work with 
it that your agent stated it would perform. 

Yours very respectfully, I. B. Mitchell. 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 



Aiken's Family Knitting Machine is one of the greatest curiosities of 
the age. Not only does it knit stockings and socks with great rapidity, 
but its work is done with more regularity and accuracy than can be done 
by a lady. It will knit a pair of hose in ten minutes. We have not had 
time to examine it thoroughly, but have seen enough to satisfy us that it 
will be sought for by farmers and planters, and become as necessary, in 
large families, as sewing machines. — Richmond (F«.) Dispatch. 

Aiken's Family Knitting Machine is truly the greatest wonder yet in- 
vented. It knits the same as hand knitting, and the rapidity with which 
it manufactures yarn into stockings and other garments strikes the beholder 
with astonishment. — Bosto7i Evening Traveller. 

Aiken's celebrated Knitting Machine is the most ingenious and invalu- 
able thing of the kind ever invented. Every thing works as smooth and 
regular as a clock, and we arc surprised at the number of loops it makes 
per minute. — Eagle of the South [Jackson, Mississi.p2n). 

Aiken's Knitting Machine deserves to come into general use. It is one 
of the most ingenious and useful machines we have ever examined. It 
does its work well, speedily, and is aiibrded at a price that places it within 
the reach of all. — Indiana Paper. 

This Machine is an excellent one, made to be operated by treadle, like a 
sewing machine, and is a valuable adjunct to every large family of our 
land. It will soon occupy a position in the family equal to that of the 
sewing machine. — Scientific A^nerican. 

This Machine, for speed, simplicity of construction, and the perfect man- 
ner in which it does its work, is probably superior to any thing of the kind 
ever invented. — N. H. Journal of Agriculture. 

Knitting by hand is fast going out of date, and we predict that this 
Machine will make ordinary knitting needles, a few years hence, a curi- 
osity. — Manchester [N. H.) Mirror. 



28 

Aiken's Family Knitting Machine deserves the attention of planters, 
housekeepers and others, who wish to adopt and enjoy all good improve- 
ments and economical machines. — Charleston [S. C.) Courier. 

With it a negro girl or boy could do all the fine and coarse knitting 
necessary for the house and plantation. — Charleston [S. C.) Mercury. 

This Machine can be worked by a child. — Southern (S. C.) Enterprise. 

There are generally, on almost every plantation, plenty of hands not 
exactly fitted for field labor, who, with one of these Machines, could knit 
not only a supply for the plantation, but also for several others. — Life 
Illustrated {N. Y.). 

The Scientific American, in speaking of this Machine, on exhi- 
bition at the late Fair of the American Institute, says : 

The article that attracts more attention than any thing else is Aiken's 
Knitting Machine. The wonderful thing in relation to it is the rapidity 
and perfection with which it works. The exclamations of the old ladies, 
who were standing about, bore very flattering testimony to the satisfactory 
working of the machine. 

Its work is better and more even than can be done by hand, and will 
knit a stocking while a woman is "setting up" one. — Oswego Commercial 
Times. 

Aiken's Knitting Machine we consider one of the greatest labor-saving 
machines of the age. — Boston Neivs. 

One of the most extraordinary and beautiful of inventions is J. B. 
Aiken's Family Knitting Machine. — Charleston {S. C.) Evening News. 

Aiken's Family Knitting Machine is very handsomely and tastefully 
got up, and is a most ingenious affair. — Daily Palladiicm (N. J'.). 

"We shall not attempt a description of this Machine. No language can 
describe it intelligibly. It needs to be seen to be under.<tood. All the 
operator has to do is to turn a small crank, and the Machine does the rest 
of the work itself, grinding out a pair of hose "quicker than you could 
say Jack Robinson." — Weekly Register [Eaton, Ohio). 

To planters, particularly, who own large numbers of negroes, this inven- 
tion is almost invaluable, and those who see it in operation will readily 
become convinced of the fact. A sock is knit in almost an incredible short 
space of time, as well as other articles of equal usefulness, generally worn 
by ladies. — Montgomery [Ala.) Daily Advertiser. 



29 

It is impossible, with pen and ink, to describe the operation of this 
Machine ; we can only advise every body to examine, and be satisfied that 
steel, iron and cog-wheels, sometimes are really alive. — Daily Republic 
{Buffalo). . 

The Knitting Machine, in working, presents one of the most beautiful 
and interesting sights that can be imagined. We have never witnessed 
any thing, in the way of ingenious machinery, that delighted us so much. 
The rapidity of its performance is almost incredible. — Buffalo Express. 

One of the most beautiful pieces of mechanism we have ever seen is 
Aiken's Patent Knitting Machine, for family use and manufacturing pur- 
poses. The only ground of objection to its use is, that it does away entirely 
with the occupation of grandmothers, elderly aunts, «&c. — Buffalo Commer- 
cial Advertiser. 

We hail this invention as the liberator of woman — for, of all non -paying 
and motiveless drudging that the dear creatures are compelled to do, we 
know of nothing like knitting. Grandmother's mission is now accom- 
plished. She need never again come over to our house and bring her 
knitting-work. She can do it all at home before breakfast! — American 
Ruralist {^Springfield, Ohio). 

To be realized it must be seen, and to be appreciated it must be set in 
motion; and then the eye is not able to follow the lightning quickness of 
its action. It will produce any substantial garment or fancy article that 
could be made by knitting in the usual way. You say, "Do it," and, ere 
the sound of your voice has ceased, the clicking of the needles reply, "It 
is done." — Family Pictorial (New-York). 

We could hardly believe that such a machine was within the inventive 
powers of man. We can scarcely say what our grandmothers would be 
tempted to do with a wheel that catches five thousand loops per minute. — 
Daily Advocate [Baton Rouge, La.). 

The most ingenious piece of mechanism we have seen in many a day is 
J. B. Aiken's Family Knitting Machine. It is a greater invention than 
the sewing machine, and stands next to it in usefulness. The amount of 
labor it is destined to save those who have to do the knitting for large fam- 
ilies is immense. With this Machine a child, ten years of age, will do 
more knitting in an hour than half a dozen ladies will accomplish in a 
week in the ordinary way. — Nashville [Tenn.) Patriot. 



30 



FOOT POWER MACHINE 




Price, securely packed for transportation, with its appurtenances, 



31 



AIKEN'S PORTABLE KNITTING MACHINE. 




Price, securely packed, with its appurtenances, for transportation, $40. 



32 



COST OF TRANSPORTATION". 

Subjoined is an estimate made by tbe Adams Express 
Company of the cost of transporting tbe Portable Ma- 
chine from the manufactory in Franklin, New-Hampshire, 
to some of the leadinoj cities of the United States : viz.. 



To Boston, 10.37 

" New- York, .87 

" Detroit, 3.37 

" Chicago, 2.87 

■ " Cincinnati, 2.37 

" St. Louis, 2.87 

" Pittsburg, 2.37 

" Indianapolis, 2.87 

" St. Paul, 4.87 

" Des Moines, 4.87 



To Richmond, 2.37 

" Charleston, 2.37 

" Savannah, 2.37 

" Montgomery, 3.37 

" Jackson, 3.37 

" New-Orleans, 3.37 

" Louisville, 2.63 

" Nashville, 2.87 

" Galveston, 4.37 

" San Francisco, 8.87 



The cost of transporting the Foot Power Machine 
will be about three times the above rates. 

The weight of the Portable Machine, when packed, 
with all its appurtenances, ready for transportation, is 39 
lbs. ; that of the Foot Power Machine, 120 lbs. 

Parties ordering four or more of these machines, in a 
single case, by the usual conveyance of heavy packages, 
will be charged for transportation at rates greatly reduced 
from those above specified. 

Satisfaction guaranteed to every purchaser, or money 

refunded. 

To Correspondents. All letters of inquiry, to secure 
attention, must inclose a postage stamp. 

All orders, inclosing remittances current in New- York 
City, will receive prompt attention from the Inventor and 
Manufacturer. Address 

J. B. AIKEN, 

Franklin, N. H, 






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IMPRESSIONS OF MEDALS, 

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